Therefore, they that are of faith shall be blessed with faithful Abraham.
ωστε οι εκ πιστεως ευλογουνται συν τω πιστω αβρααμ
8 Church Fathers comment on this verse
But lest they contradict this and say, "Abraham quite rightly received justification by faith, because the Law did not yet exist. Show me that faith justified even after the Law was given," the Apostle turns to this as well. He shows more than they demand. He shows not only that faith justifies, but also that the Law delivers over to a curse those who cling to the Law. To understand this, listen to what the Apostle himself says next.
Since they feared that they might fall under a curse for not observing the Law, because it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in what is written in the Law," he shows the complete opposite. Those who leave the Law and come to faith are blessed, just as faithful Abraham received the blessing.
Therefore those who believe are blessed with faithful Abraham. For all who are of works of the Law are under a curse, since it is written: "Cursed," he says, "is every man who does not continue in all things written in the book of the Law, to do them" (cf. Deut 27:26).
On verses 8-9: "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached beforehand to Abraham, that in you all nations shall be blessed. So then those who are of faith shall be blessed with faithful Abraham."
This does not mean that Scripture itself, that is, ink and sheets of parchment, which have no understanding in themselves, can foreknow the future. Rather, the Holy Spirit, and the meaning hidden beneath the letter, foretold what would come to pass after many centuries.
Then the example taken from Genesis reads thus in the proper volume of that book: "And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen 26:4). The Apostle explained this concerning Christ, saying: "It is not written, 'and to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, 'and to your seed,' which is Christ."
We must observe the same thing in almost all testimonies taken from the books of the Old Testament into the New. The apostles and evangelists committed them to memory by giving the meaning alone. Often they changed the order of the words, sometimes omitting part of them, and sometimes adding others.
No one doubts that all nations without exception were blessed neither in Isaac, nor in Jacob, nor in the twelve patriarchs, nor in the others who sprang from Abraham's root. They were blessed in Jesus Christ, through Whom all nations praise God, and a new name is blessed by them on earth.
Yet one may also understand that the Apostle took the example of the seed from another passage of Genesis, where it is written: God brought him outside, certainly Abraham, and said to him. "Look toward heaven and number the stars, if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your seed be." And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Gen 15:5-6).
Therefore those who believe shall be blessed with faithful Abraham. Because of his surpassing faith in God, it is said of him that he believed in God as though he were the first.
So also Enos, because of his outstanding hope in God, exalted in comparison with others, is depicted as having hoped to call upon the Lord God (Gen 4:26). This is not because Abel, of whom the Lord says, "The voice of your brother's blood cries to Me" (Gen 4:10), and the rest did not hope to call upon God. Rather, each man is named according to that quality which is chiefly manifest in him.
God both ordained and foretold this from of old. For He promised Abraham the blessing of the nations. Therefore, if anyone wishes to be deemed worthy of kinship with Abraham, let him imitate his faith. Thus, after praising faith and showing its fruits in the gifts of the Spirit, the Apostle proves by the testimony of the Law itself that faith is older than the Law, since the Old Testament tells of Abraham. He then compares the Law with faith, showing their difference.
What conclusion follows from this? It is that "those who believe," whoever they may be, whether Jews by origin or uncircumcised Gentiles like the Galatians, are equally "blessed with faithful Abraham."
The patriarch Abraham serves as living proof of the significance of faith in salvation. The promise given to him by God, concerning the blessing of all nations through him, shows that all the Gentiles also were appointed to be saved through faith.
"In old age, when he was already hardened by years, Abraham believed that he would have a descendant and posterity. He believed solely because God had promised it, and God was able to accomplish what He also did accomplish. 'Against hope, in hope he believed' (Rom 4:18). Such also is the spirit of faith in Christ the Lord. From the person of God it is set forth: the man crucified, called Christ, is God incarnate, Who offered Himself on the Cross as a sacrifice for sins. Here too there is nothing on which to rest except the word of the true God.
Here too is hope against hope" (Theophan).
St. John Chrysostom says: "If Abraham, who lived before grace and was so greatly adorned with good works, was justified by faith, much more are you. What loss did he suffer from not being under the law? None at all. Faith alone was sufficient for his justification."
They feared that they would lose kinship with Abraham if they abandoned the law. But St. Paul dispels this fear, showing that faith above all establishes kinship with him.
The basis for this spiritual kinship is the sacred account of God's blessing, through Abraham, of all who believe in the Lord. By the power of this promised blessing, they receive all the gifts of grace, beginning with justification.
According to St. John Chrysostom, "The Lawgiver Himself, before He gave the law, appointed justification for the Gentiles through faith."
"The Galatians feared lest they fall under the curse if they did not partake of the law. But the Apostle shows the opposite: those will be blessed who, apart from the law, cleave to faith, just as faithful Abraham was blessed for faith, though he did not know the law" (Theophan).
"Thus justification is explained by blessing. Blessing, below in verse 14, is identified with receiving the Spirit through faith. Therefore justification is not a bare declaration that the justified man is righteous. It is at the same time his complete sanctification by the grace of the Holy Spirit. In this action, faith is the conditioning principle, not the productive power" (Theophan).
This is a direct conclusion from what precedes. Believers, becoming equal to Abraham in spirit, also stand on one line with him in God’s own judgment of them. They are counted worthy of the same blessing of which Abraham was counted worthy.
"They," the Galatians, "feared lest they fall under the curse if they did not partake of the law. The Apostle shows that, on the contrary, those who cleave to faith apart from the law will be blessed, just as faithful Abraham was blessed for faith, though he did not know the law" (blessed Theophylact).
"Those who are of faith" are "those who are united with Abraham by faith, are reckoned as his seed, and are blessed together with him" (Oecumenius).
The word "faithful" must not pass unnoticed. Abraham believed not with a bare faith, but with a faith that was always accompanied by deed. He believed and went out from his land, not knowing where he was going. He believed and began to offer Isaac in sacrifice, while not doubting that God’s promise concerning offspring would be fulfilled.
He was always faithful to faith, and as he believed, so he acted. Therefore God Himself explains His extreme and special favor toward him by saying that he obeyed My voice and kept My commandments, My ordinances, My statutes, and My laws (cf. Gen 26:5).
Some repeat: faith, faith. One must answer them: yes, nothing is like faith, but only with unwavering faithfulness to faith.
It is also timely to make an inference that clarifies the concept of justification. It was said above that God, foreseeing the justification of the Gentiles by faith, gave Abraham the promise that they would be blessed in him.
This means that the foreseen justification is the promised blessing. Therefore, in the conclusion from this, he did not say, "Thus those who are of faith will be justified," but, "will be blessed."
Thus justification is explained by blessing. Below, in verse 14, blessing is identified with receiving the Spirit by faith. Therefore justification is not the bare declaration that the justified person is righteous. It is also his full sanctification by the grace of the Holy Spirit, his inward change and renewal.
In this action, faith is the conditioning principle, not the productive power. One is led to think that this ninth verse is the end of the present proof and is directly linked with verse 14.
Verses 10-13 contain an inserted thought which relates indirectly to the proof. If these verses were absent, the proof would be complete even without them. This observation is made because verses 10-13 are very difficult to understand, both in their content and in their connection with the preceding and following flow of speech.
Thus, even if we do not understand them properly, it will be a loss for our knowledge, of course, but it will not in the least harm the force of the proof which St. Paul presents in this section, verses 6-14.
The Apostle’s speech is very compressed. In one proposition he embraces much, and between one proposition and another he leaves a whole series of thoughts that must be reproduced in order to see their connection. What wonder is it if, not having the apostolic mind, we do not succeed in this?
Let us attempt to clarify the content of these verses, 10-14. Here there is not a new proof that the law is no longer necessary, but an explanation of the power of Abraham’s blessing by contrasting it with the curse of the law.
This is evident from the end of this inserted section in verse 14, where Abraham’s blessing is again mentioned. This makes clear that an explanatory discourse has been introduced and then brought back again to what was said before it began, in verse 9.
Therefore, further on in verse 15, the objection is made not to the thought found in verses 10-13, but to the thought found in verse 9. If one recognizes in this section a separate proof of the uselessness of the law, drawn from the character of the law itself and the redeeming power of the Lord’s death on the Cross, then the flow of the Apostle’s thoughts becomes confused. This is unnecessary and gives no benefit for understanding the Epistle.
We think the flow of thought in this section is as follows. The Apostle seems to say to the Galatians: faith has made you partakers of Abraham’s blessing, and you have nothing more to seek. Only be faithful to what you have already received.
But if you turn to the law, you will not only lose the blessing, but will be near the curse. You will be in danger of falling under the curse. The law does indeed say that the man who does these things shall live by them (cf. Lev 18:5). But no one is able to fulfill it (see Acts 15:10).
Therefore, upon all who rest on the law alone and find their peace in it alone, there lies the dread curse which protects the law: "Cursed is everyone," and so forth.
You will say: what is this? Was the law given as though for the purpose of bringing under the curse those who submit to it, and this by the command of God Himself? A whole people, by the law being placed upon them, was brought under the curse and held under it for so long.
No. In the law itself there are ordinances for averting the curse that falls on every transgressor of the law, namely sacrifices. There are sacrifices for the sin of the whole people. There are sacrifices for the sins of kings, princes, high priests, and every private person. For every sin there is its own sacrifice.
Whoever brings the sacrifice corresponding to his sin is cleansed from sin, and the curse no longer falls upon him. You will say: ah, then the law gives everything necessary. It indicates how to live, and when we sin, it gives a means of cleansing through the offering of the sacrifice corresponding to the sin.
That is true. But do not forget that the cleansing power of the sacrifices lies not in the sacrifices themselves, but outside them, in the power of that sacrifice which the Awaited One of all was to offer, and has now already offered. He was the Coming One, and now He has come.
The sacrifices cleansed through the union with them of faith in this Blessed One, Who comes in the name of the Lord. Without this faith, they are nothing in themselves. Therefore it is written: "The righteous shall live by faith" (cf. Hab 2:4).
Remain with the law alone, without faith, and you will not escape the curse. For there is no righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin (cf. Eccles 7:20).
Turn now to the present time. The Awaited Coming One for blessing, through faith in Whom even the sacrifices cleansed sins, has already come and offered Himself in sacrifice for the sins of all.
By His death on the Cross He redeemed from the curse of the law those who sinned under the law. We now have no need of sacrifices or of any other cleansing and justifying actions of the law. We believe directly in Christ the crucified Lord, and by this avert the curse and receive the blessing.
Thus we Jews, by casting off the law, are united by faith with Christ the Lord and restore in ourselves the blessing of Abraham. You Gentiles, apart from the law, directly believe in Him and make this blessing your own. Both we and you receive the promise of the Spirit by faith alone.
Why, then, is the law now needed by you, when even for us it is no longer needed?
Such is the flow of thoughts awakened by the Apostle’s words in this section. Having assimilated it, we will understand more clearly the meaning of each verse and its connection with the others.
As for whether this is a new proof or an explanation of the preceding one, there is no need to argue. Let each understand it as he wishes. In our opinion, this is an explanation that consists in resolving the following perplexity.
You say that Abraham’s blessing is from faith. But is it not from the law? No, he says. From the law comes curse rather than blessing, if you remain with it alone. Its curse hangs over the head of the one under the law. Faith alone in the crucified Lord delivers from the curse.
After this clarification of the content of the indicated verses, let us turn to the necessary explanations of each verse in its parts.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 9 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS